סוולי אפרון והמדרג האנטישמי: לדיוקנו של &#1502...

The article focuses on the biography, literary work, and social milieu of Savvely (Shabtai) Efron (1849-537-1925), one of the most notorious Jewish converts to Russian Orthodoxy in the nineteenth century. His stories, novels, and dramas about Jewish life are widely acknowledged as a cornerstone of Russian antisemitism. The essay discusses Efron's life and literary output from a double perspective: as a singular story of a marginal author who played an important role in the shaping of Russian antisemitic mythology, and as a case study for the definition of antisemitic literature in general, and model for understanding the dynamics of Jewish self-positioning vis-a-vis stereotypical labels and perceptions. Instead of prescribing rigid criteria for defining antisemitic literature, I propose a spectrum of characteristics, which take into account a work's intrinsic qualities (narrative elements and motifs) as well as the social and rhetorical circumstances in which the work was produced and perceived. Analyzing Efron's literary evolution, I highlight his advance on the scale of antisemitic representations - from benign and critical, that could have been regarded as sympathetic and apologetic, to openly defamatory and conspiratorial. I discuss the role of his personal situation as well as Russian historical circumstances in this development. In particular, I emphasize the role of his pan-Slavist, conservative, and populist cultural milieu as a prime consumer and generator of the antisemitic images he provided, which eventually contributed to the shaping of the Russian antisemitic tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]